The (mostly) CW Review

Supergirl: Bizarro (Season 1, Episode 12)

“I have been stuck in the friendzone so long that I’m just thinking about buying some investment property here.” – Winn

This first season of Supergirl has so far set a very high bar for me and with that in mind I would have to say that this episode was a disappointment.

In case you missed it, Maxwell Lord (you know, handsome-billionaire-science-guy-who-dated-supergirl’s-sister-that-one-time) created his own evil Supergirl to kill the actual Supergirl. Also, Kara tried to manage dating her boss’ son whilst fighting crime which ultimately ended with her breaking up with him.

One of the strengths of this show is its character relationships. Where other superhero shows can make the connections between people seem clunky and false, Supergirl gives a real credibility to these characters. They aren’t thrown together over a couple of episodes to fit the canon but rather you see that these people have been in each other’s lives for a while.

That was definitely still there this episode but Bizarro is the worst villain on this show so far (and I hope, ever). Kara quips, at one point, that “she talks like Cookie Monster” and it couldn’t be more true. Whilst I’m glad that they addressed it, that didn’t change the fact that the stilted speech was distracting and took away from any credibility as a villain or really a human being.

Now, we can’t forget the mastermind behind Bizarro – Maxwell Lord. I haven’t made my mind up about this character yet but I am impressed with him. The opening scene of the episode was very Frankenstein which could have been disastrous but Facinelli plays it well. Clearly the character has a god complex: when Bizarro calls him “my Lord”, I couldn’t stop my eyes from rolling but he doesn’t seem innately evil or cartoon-ish. I’m interested to see where the writers take him this season.

The boys… *sigh*. Jimmy and Winn have some interesting conversations about their Kara-crushes this week. I’m a fan of how the show has side-stepped having Kara spend all of her free time angsting over choosing between these guys. My heart does bleed a little for Winn but I’m hoping for some kind of season finale get-together.

Ultimately the concept of the episode was brilliant – an opposite-Supergirl fighting Supergirl? Awesome. – but the fight scenes were average and the Bizarro character was the worst bit of writing on the show thus far. I will say that they left the show on a cliff hangar with that squid-creature-thing leaping onto Kara??? I don’t know what happened there but I’m excited to see it next week.

The Flash: Fast Lane(Season 2, Episode 12)

“Did I just make the meta-human Tinder? Nope, not starting that fetish.” – Cisco

Immediately, I will say that this was my favourite episode of The Flash this year. I think that now we’ve stopped setting up exposition for Legends of Tomorrow they can really focus on Zoom and it’s just been getting better and better.

This week we see Harrison Wells stealing some of Barry’s speed but in the end, owning up to it. There is a lot more Wally in this episode and it’s excellent; Joe and Iris grow closer to him and we see that relationship develop.

If Supergirl fell off of its pedestal this week, then The Flash took its place. Barry faced off against a meta-human, coined ‘Tarpit’. Whilst the name suggests some kind of frat boy, he was a decent adversary- lacking the campiness that many of this show’s villains display. He wasn’t amazing but the episode wasn’t about him, it was mainly focused on Wally and Wells.

The episode started with Barry looking through the window at the West family dinner and leaving somewhat dejectedly. Other than that instance, Barry seems on board with the situation although I’m interested to see Barry and Wally have a real scene together.

If you’d asked me last week I would have told you how little investment I had in Wally (seriously, he was only inches above Jay Garrett) but this week he was fantastic. Keiynan Lonsdale who plays Wally was brilliant. Previously Wally had been confusingly aggressive and just generally a brat but this week he became an actual character with three dimensions and everything.

Together with Jesse L. Martin (Joe) and Candice Patton (Iris), he made a relatively light show emotional. I have to mention the chemistry between Iris and Wally – not the creepy, Lannister/Fogler commercial chemistry – because the two actors work together really well. Sibling relationships are great to watch but only if they’re done right and these two are just meeting for the first time. It helps that they genuinely look like siblings but don’t let that diminish their skill in these roles.

Team Flash over at Star Labs also did some good stuff this week (I’m not counting Caitlin – just like Jay, I’m not really sure what her role is anymore). Watching Harrison Wells’ betrayal and then admittance of guilt was captivating, played flawlessly by Tom Cavanagh. Just as awesome was Barry’s decision to help Wells anyway. Was it cheesy? Maybe but he’s a superhero and the speech that he gave was exactly what a superhero ought to embody.

Next week we’re going to Earth-2 and hopefully we’ll see something to further my theory that Earth-2 Barry is Zoom.

Arrow: Unchained(Season 4, Episode 12)

They tried to run a lot of stories simultaneously this week on Arrow: the return of Flashback!Ollie, The Calculator & Roy’s return, Thea’s imminent death. Did it work? Surprisingly, yes.

The episode follows Arrow fighting an opponent known as The Calculator (who turns out to be Felicity’s father). Thea collapses and we found out that she is dying as a result of not feeding her bloodlust. At the very end of the episode, Nyssa returns to Star City with a cure for Thea under the condition that Oliver kills Malcolm Merlin – Thea’s father.

As always, Arrow delivers on the action sequences from the very first scene. Whilst they’re visually stunning I was very distracted by the lack of blood on blades that had just run a person through. I mean, come on.

So many old characters came back for this episode: Roy, Nyssa, Tatsu, Shadow – it was a real throwback which I adored. Roy even donned the Red Arrow costume once again and raised the question: do he and Thea wear the same size costume? Soulmates.

Villain of the week was The Calculator, played brilliantly by Tom Amandes. Whilst he wreaked havoc from behind the safety a computer, his effect was not at all lessened. He seemed to pose a challenge for Felicity and as far as villains go, he didn’t seem to be overly cartoonish. Not to forget the ending, where it is revealed that he is Felicity’s father. If there was a jaw-drop moment in this episode then that was it.

Although this episode was not focused on Damien Darhk, there was still some development on that particular plotline. Whilst Oliver was previously running for mayor uncontested (which is why it confuses me that he has a whole campaign office), Darhk’s wife has now joined the mayoral race. There wasn’t much on that point but it should make for some interesting developments later on in the series.

The 100: Ye Who Enter Here(Season 3, Episode 3)

“Go float yourself.”

We’re finally out of the two-part season premiere and the show hasn’t lost any steam. This was easily the best episode so far this season (admittedly, it’s one of three); there’s no more exposition and setting up the episode – this week saw us in the thick of things and it was intense.

Last week we saw that Lexa had Clarke and this week we found out that Lexa wants to absorb Clarke’s people into the clans under her rule. Bellamy and Octavia raced to save Clarke from an assassin but it turned out that they were tricked and the assassin was actually back in their own base.

This week we learned a lot about Lexa’s character. In Season 2, I was initially hopeful for Lexa, she seemed to pose an interesting character but I think ultimately the writing let me down. This season has been brilliant in showcasing Lexa and actually giving us a bit more insight into who she is.

‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown’ is a phrase that comes to mind when thinking about Lexa. She isn’t one for shouting or grand displays of emotion but this week we saw past the unsmiling, stern facade. She’s a teenager with an entire nation relying on her/trying to take her down and every move that she makes is scrutinised and criticised. Her leniency regarding Clarke was telling of her feelings towards her and also a good reminder that all of her actions aren’t necessarily reflective of her thoughts.

Raven added some emotional weight to the episode as we saw her struggle with her injury. Along with Bellamy and Octavia’s rooftop conversation, it was one of the softer moments of a very adrenaline-filled episode.

There’s no doubt that the show can be violent but this episode felt closer to a political thriller as all of the chess pieces moved into position for war. We finally saw the Ice Nation Queen, an antagonist we’d only previously known by word of mouth.

In summary, this episode was smart and insightful and has left me very excited for the rest of the season. Hopefully they can keep it up.

That’s it for today, come back next Friday for another review of the week’s TV.

What was your favourite show this week? Did you like Bizarro? Do you think that Lexa and Clarke are going to get back together? Let me know in the comments.